Phoenix, AZ – Jared Dudley scored 22 points off the bench and the Phoenix Suns held off the Houston Rockets, 107-105, Saturday night.
Goran Dragic scored 13 of his 18 points in the final quarter, and the Suns got 14 points from Markieff Morris. Michael Beasley ended with 10 points. Hamed Haddadi and P.J. Tucker had 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, to help the Suns snap a two-game skid.
James Harden scored 38 and Carlos Delfino tallied 21, but the Rockets lost for the second time in three games. Harden and Delfino combined for 24 points in the final quarter, and the duo finished 12-for-19 from 3-point range for the game.
"Offensive glass and turnovers killed us," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "They had 54 or 52 points off of them. Our turnovers and offensive rebounds. Hard to overcome that."
Dudley put the Suns ahead for good by draining a 3-pointer with 7:46 remaining for an 87-84 difference. A short time later, Kendall Marshall's running bank shot 3-ball expanded the margin to 93-86.
The Rockets got within 93-92 following Harden's three-point play with 4:06 to go, but Dragic converted two straight buckets and the Suns went up eight with under a minute left.
"When we needed him to score he was scoring and when they double teamed him he would find the open guy and he did this from the bench. He was the player of the game," Dragic said of Dudley.
Houston made one last push and had it down to 105-102 following Harden's 3- pointer from the right wing with 5.9 seconds left. Dragic then converted two from the charity stripe to seal the outcome.
A 3-pointer from Houston's Donatas Motiejunas fell with 0.2 seconds left.
The Rockets led 28-24 after one quarter, but the Suns scored 16 in a row during the second to grab a 45-35 edge. They held a 50-46 lead at the break.
It was tight throughout the third quarter and the Suns held a 77-76 advantage going to the fourth.
Game Notes
The 11 boards were a season-best for Haddadi ... Phoenix went 25-of-39 at the foul line compared to 12-of-18 for Houston ... The Rockets had 21 turnovers, which led to 28 Phoenix points ... Phoenix has won 10 of the last 13 meetings ... This is the fist time the Suns have eclipsed the century mark at home since Dec. 19 ... Houston went 19-of-41 from beyond the arc. Since 1985-86 (last 27 NBA seasons), only five times has a team made 19 or more 3-pointers and lost.
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